For decades, the shorthand for Highland Beach has been that nothing changes here. One road, three and a third miles of it, a private barrier island between Delray and Boca where the biggest civic decisions were about repainting the fire trucks. That shorthand is quietly expiring. In 2026, four separate projects are converging on the same stretch of Ocean Boulevard, and each one alters something residents rely on daily: how the traffic flows, where pedestrians can safely cross, what sits behind the mangrove line south of Toscana, and what the south end of town will look like by fall of next year.
The through-line worth noticing is that these projects are not coordinated. They share only the road. Taken together, they mean the version of Highland Beach a longtime resident committed to memory in 2019 will not be the version they drive through in 2027.
The four projects, at a glance
| Project | Where | Status as of mid-2026 | What residents notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDOT SR-A1A resurfacing | Linton Blvd south through all of Highland Beach | Substantially complete | Bike lanes, new striping, one lingering signal issue |
| Pedestrian crosswalk signals | 3310 S Ocean Blvd and other crossings | Unfunded, appropriation pending | Existing signals at 3310 currently out of service |
| Milani Park construction | 5.6 acres straddling A1A at the south end | Permits filed April 2026, construction possible June | Staging, then a public beach park by fall 2027 |
| 3822 S Ocean townhome site | Just south of Toscana | Mangroves cleared under federal permits; no town plans filed yet | Nine proposed townhome units on former mangrove parcel |
The resurfacing is done. The signal at Linton is not.
After more than a year of orange barrels, the FDOT project along A1A has crossed into what Town Manager Marshall Labadie has publicly called "substantially complete." The $8.3 million scope covered milling and resurfacing, new five-foot bicycle lanes in each direction, swale modifications for drainage, and refreshed signage and pavement markings. For most residents, the daily experience is a quieter, smoother road with bright green bike lane markings and clearer turn indications, per reporting in Boca Daily News.
One piece is not finished, and it is the piece drivers feel most. At A1A and Linton Boulevard, the electrical loop that senses a waiting car and triggers the signal was removed during drainage work in Delray Beach and has not been reinstalled. Until it is, the light runs on a fixed timer rather than on demand. Season traffic compounds the delay, which is why the northbound backup at Linton has felt worse since December than it did before construction began.
The other unfinished piece is safety-related. Lighted, pedestrian-activated crosswalk signals were part of the original vision but were not funded in the base project. State Representative Peggy Gossett-Seidman has requested a state appropriation to install them; if the state budget does not carry it, the town has signaled it will look at funding the crossings itself. In the meantime, the Town has notified residents that the crosswalk light signals at 3310 South Ocean Boulevard are currently out of service, which is worth knowing if that is your regular walk to the beach.
Milani Park moves from paper to permit
Milani Park is the project that will change the south end of town the most, and it is the one that has been theoretical for so long that many residents have stopped tracking it. That is no longer safe to do.
In mid-April 2026, Palm Beach County filed permit applications and a compliance package with the Town of Highland Beach, and county leaders indicated construction on the 5.6-acre parcel could begin as early as June, according to The Coastal Star. Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Cirillo has put the build duration at roughly 18 months, which points to a fall 2027 opening.
Two details matter for how the finished park will feel:
- The estimated construction cost is $8.6 million, funded through the county rather than the town.
- After sustained pushback from Highland Beach residents and the Town Commission, the county agreed to phase the parking. Phase one includes 46 spaces on the west parcel rather than the 100-space lot in the original site plan. The east parcel carries the beach amenities, lifeguard tower, and restrooms required under the 2010 settlement agreement that governs the property.
If you live on the south end near Boca Highland Beach Club, the practical change is this: the empty parcel you have driven past for thirty years is about to become a construction site through 2027, and then a public beach park with pedestrian crossings across A1A in perpetuity. The traffic pattern at Spanish River will not read the way it used to.
For context, the county purchased the land from the Milani family in 1987 for $3.9 million, with the understanding that a park would eventually be built there. Nearly forty years of litigation, delays, and revised site plans followed. Reasonable residents disagree on whether the compromise landed in a good place. What is no longer in dispute is that construction is imminent rather than theoretical.
The cleared lot south of Toscana
Drivers heading south past Toscana this winter would have noticed something they had not seen in a lifetime: bare ground where mangroves used to close off the view. The Town issued a public notice on January 7, 2026 explaining what happened.
The property owner cleared roughly 0.808 acres of mangroves, an area of about 300 by 137 feet, under permits issued by the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The clearing was authorized in connection with a proposed nine-unit townhome development. The Town's news flash on the parcel at 3822 S Ocean Blvd notes that no plans have been filed with the Town or Planning Board for the buildings or the associated seawall work, and that Florida law preempts local governments from interfering with mangrove trimming and clearing that has been permitted at the state and federal level.
The interpretation for residents who care about the western shoreline: what you see behind Toscana today is the intermediate step, not the final condition. Whatever gets proposed to the Town's Planning Board will be a nine-unit product on a lot that used to be, in effect, a private greenbelt. It is one of very few parcels along A1A in Highland Beach where a genuinely new-build project of any scale is possible.
Two tools the Town added this year that are worth knowing about
The Town has quietly modernized the way it communicates about projects like these.
The first is the Strategic Priorities Dashboard, posted on April 8, 2026 through the Town's news flash system. It publishes project summaries, timelines, and budgets and is scheduled to update every quarter. It is the cleanest single source for tracking the four projects above.
The second is the "My Highland Beach" app, whose initial rollout is complete and whose 2026 focus, according to the FY 2026 Strategic Priorities Plan, is adding timely content and integrating with other Town systems. For anyone who has spent years piecing together A1A closure notices from a mix of email, HOA bulletins, and word of mouth, both tools consolidate the same information into one place.
The Highland Beach Library at 3614 S Ocean Boulevard, which is co-located with Town Hall, remains the physical anchor for these communications. Public meetings on FDOT work, the park, and Planning Board matters continue to be held in the Library Community Room, and the recordings are archived through the Town's website.
What to watch through the rest of 2026
If you plan to stay put and simply live here through the changes, the calendar to keep in mind runs roughly like this. Watch for the Linton signal loop to be restored, which returns the light to demand-based operation. Watch the summer for staging equipment and site work at the Milani parcel, which will indicate whether the June start held. Watch the Planning Board agenda for the 3822 S Ocean townhome filing, which is where the community gets a formal look at the design and site plan. And watch the Strategic Priorities Dashboard for the state appropriation update on crosswalk signals.
The Highland Beach that emerges from this year is not a different town. It is the same town with a repaved road, a new park at its south end, a small enclave of townhomes where mangroves used to be, and a more modern civic communication layer. Modest by most standards, meaningful by ours.
For residents thinking about how these changes shape long-term property considerations along the Intracoastal or oceanfront, The Olive Belcher Team is available for a private, confidential conversation. Request a Private Consultation when the timing is right.
